Kremlin expresses concern after U.S. puts American troops in Europe on high alert
The Kremlin is concerned about the actions of the United States which contribute to escalating tensions, in particular the Pentagon's statement about putting the US military in Europe on high alert, said the press Secretary of the Russian President of Russia Dmitry Peskov.
"We talked a lot about this yesterday. What is happening both informationally and in reality, the United States is escalating tensions – nothing changes here. We are watching these actions of the United States with great concern," Peskov said, commenting the Pentagon's statement that it is ready to deploy 8.5 thousand of its troops to Europe.
Peskov added that this information will not affect the course of negotiations between Russia and the United States on security guarantees. "At the current stage, they are completed," Putin’s spokesperson explained.
The U.S. Department of Defense announced that it is increasing combat readiness of 8.5 thousand military personnel in connection with the situation around Ukraine. The U.S. Department of Defense indicated that it is ready to transfer troops to Europe in a short time at the request of NATO or "in other situations", but the decision to send them has not yet been made. In addition, the Pentagon decided to reduce the time for the deployment of the military from ten to five days in some cases.
According to The New York Times, US President Joe Biden is considering the possibility of deploying troops to the Baltic states and Eastern Europe. One of the options that were presented to Biden in the Pentagon is to send from 1 thousand to 5 thousand troops to the countries of Eastern Europe with the possibility of a "tenfold increase" in their number if the situation worsens.
On January 24, NATO announced the deployment of troops, ships and aircraft to Bulgaria, Romania and Lithuania. The head of the North Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, stressed that NATO does not threaten Russia or another country, and "the deployment of forces is agreed by national committees and is necessary to strengthen security in Europe."
NATO announced that it is deploying troops due to a possible "Russian invasion" of Ukraine.
Russian authorities have repeatedly denied accusations of preparing an "invasion." The Kremlin called the movement of troops across the country an internal affair. According to Peskov, the build-up of forces near the borders of Ukraine is a forced precautionary measure due to increased NATO activity near the Russian borders.